Jobs lost as two Brisbane restaurants close
Staff and suppliers are in a state of shock following the closure of two Brisbane restaurants
Restaurateur TJ Peabody has announced it is closing Nativo Kitchen and Bar and Burnt Ends. The group’s Nantucket Catering has also ceased trading.
The parent company NKB Group announced the news “with a heavy heart” that the venues will not re-open in 2018.
NKB Group says all members of staff and suppliers have been notified of the closures.
All outstanding payments and redundancies will be distributed as a priority and all outstanding gift vouchers will be refunded in cash.
In its statement, NKB group said the closures were because of financial issues.
“Our goal for both restaurants and the catering business was always to over-deliver on customer expectations,” Mr Peabody said in the press release.
“While we firmly believe we achieved that, the challenge we had was matching our goal with the costs involved. It simply became financially unfeasible.
“We have many bright stars and enthusiastic, loyal employees on our books and it’s our number one priority to get those people their payments and redundancies to support them on the next stage of their career journeys.”
While a corporate recovery firm has been appointed, the group says the businesses are not bankrupt.
The eateries were located in The Barracks in Petrie Terrace.
They were due to reopen at the end of the month after a three-week break and staff were sent an email with the news that they didn’t have jobs anymore.
It was a big let-down for staff.
“It’s just completely awful. You don’t think it can happen when they’ve got two businesses side by side, surely there’s got to be some stability there,” Nativo waitress Madison Rath told the Courier Mail.
She said many staff had been working at the restaurant since its first day.
They felt “completely betrayed”, she said.
by Leon Gettler, January 15th 2017
